Northern Ireland: Magilligan Prison

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Government have received a report from the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Kit Chivers. The report is on an announced inspection of Magilligan Prison and has today been published.
	The Government warmly welcome this report, which recognises not only areas of good practice but, helpfully, identifies a number of areas for improvement. I shall be considering very carefully the report's recommendations. I have no doubt that the report will be of value in informing and reassuring the public, and is helpful to the managers and staff who are involved in this challenging area of work.

Debt and Reserves Management Report 2005–06

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My honourable friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Debt and Reserves Management Report 2005–06 is being published today. Copies will be available in the Library of the House at the conclusion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget Statement.

Invest To Save Budget

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Paul Boateng) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to announce that 37 bids from across the public and voluntary sectors have been successful in round 7 of the Invest to Save Budget at a cost of £37 million in total over the three years to 2007–08 for England. The allocated sum rises to £43 million to include consequential funding for the devolved administrations. Details of the winners of this round have been placed in the Library of the House.
	The Invest to Save Budget (ISB) provides support for projects that increase the extent of joint working between different parts of government; identify innovative ways of delivering public services; and reduce the cost of delivering the services and/or improve the quality and effectiveness of services delivered to the public.
	This, the seventh round of the ISB, concentrates on the priority areas of:
	Health and social care for older people;
	Employment for people from black and ethnic minority communities;
	Correctional services;
	Hostel provision for homeless people;
	Support for parents and learning services for adults; and
	Integration for people from ethnic minorities.
	Winning projects must agree an implementation plan with the sponsor departments. Each project must provide six-monthly progress reports and carry out an evaluation of its success once it has been completed. Wider dissemination of the good practice from completed projects is then fed back into the whole spectrum of public service providers.

Premature Deaths: People with Learning Disabilities

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community (Dr Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am announcing today the first stage of a confidential inquiry into premature deaths among people with learning disabilities. The Department of Health has asked the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), which is taking responsibility for confidential inquiries from April 2005, to carry out a scoping study to establish the best way to conduct the inquiry.
	The Government's White Paper Valuing People, published in 2001, included as one of its main objectives improvements in the health of people with learning disabilities. In particular, it highlighted the need to address evidence of health inequalities. The Government have taken action to address this, primarily through asking learning disability partnership boards to develop plans for health action planning in their local areas. But Valuing People also noted that there was cause for concern about evidence of avoidable illness and premature deaths, and included an undertaking to look at the feasibility of establishing a confidential inquiry into mortality among people with learning disabilities.
	The department has held wide-ranging discussions with experts and stakeholders and has determined that an inquiry would not only be practicable but would also provide valuable information about the healthcare of people with learning disabilities. Healthcare for this group has also continued to be raised as a matter of concern for organisations such as Mencap and the Disability Rights Commission.
	Professor Sir John Lilleyman (Medical Director, NPSA) is the lead director for confidential inquiries and will be in charge of the management of the scoping exercise. The research will be overseen, managed and commissioned by Professor Richard Lilford's team at the University of Birmingham.
	Our intention is that this inquiry should be carried out in a new and more flexible style compared to previous inquiries. It will be time-limited and produce results that can then be used to inform practice. The confidential investigation of healthcare histories of people with learning disabilities will be complex, since it will in many cases need to cover care provided in a variety of settings, for example residential care homes. The scoping project I have announced today is the first step to a full-scale inquiry and will also provide valuable information in its own right about the healthcare of people with learning disabilities.